Local Yacht Club Delivering Hundreds of Meals to Front Line Health Workers in Bridgeport

Black Rock, CT - Black Rock Yacht Club (BYRC), a fixture in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport for almost 100 years, responded to the Coronavirus shut-down like everyone else - closing the Campus and Clubhouse and revamping the Club’s Fine Dining Service into Pick Up and Go! Take Out Only dinner service for members – except, at the same time, the Membership launched a program to support their fellow members who were working on the front line in healthcare facilities and by extension their local community of Front Line Health Care workers by providing individually packaged meals, snacks and beverages to several hospitals and healthcare facilities in the area.

“It was clear to us, that our members, a group of whom are on the health care front lines themselves, were overwhelmed and struggling as we all were initially. But, we are a small club and the membership is our family- community; word was going around the membership, and taken up by the Board of Governors, that as a Club, we needed to do something to support these folks,” said Chris Moore, BRYC Commodore. “We discussed with our members, our Fleet Surgeon and another member, a Doctor at Bridgeport Hospital – what should we do? How can we help?”

General Manager Dan Post-Kennedy recalls, “Originally we thought to prepare family style meal trays that could feed a number of people – which, by the way, is a big part of the Club’s Pick Up and Go! Take Out Service; but we learned from the experts that individual meals were preferred to minimize cross contamination; so that became our plan to prepare and deliver as many individually prepared meals as we could.”

Within two days of launching the Feed the Front Line BRYC Program, over a third of the Black Rock Yacht Club’s Membership had stepped up to participate and more than 1,400 meals had been funded.

Currently, individually packaged meals are being delivered to Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport several times a week. “The Hospitals were the obvious first choices for our program, but they are not the only facilities we have reached out to,” reports Dan Post-Kennedy, BRYC General Manager. “As you may imagine, it isn’t as easy to physically provide the meals to all the places that need them – there are various protocols and safety measures we all have to follow just to get the meals into the facilities, not just for our staff but for the recipients too. We are keen to help as many as we can.”

Black Rock Yacht Club plans to continue providing meals, as long as they are needed. While the incident of positive tests and hospitalizations may appear to be cresting there is still a big need for food on the front lines, so BRYC, while following all State and Local Guidelines will remain closed; will continue practicing social distancing and only offer Pick Up and Go Take Out Only food service for members – will still make regular delivery runs to Front Line Health Care workers until these measures are no longer required. Commodore Moore concludes, “We all wish we could get back to the Club and out on the water; while that’s not possible right now; someone said something about a crisis bringing out the best in all of us and the BRYC community is pitching in to be good neighbors and help where we can.”

Links:

For more information about Black Rock Yacht Club visit our website at www.blackrockyc.org or our Facebook @BlackRockYacht; Instagram @blackrockyachtclubct

About Black Rock Yacht Club:

Located in the historic village of Black Rock, Black Rock Yacht Club is a private year-round club offering yachting, tennis, swimming, social events and dining for all ages – adults and youngsters alike. With spectacular views and immediate boating access to Long Island Sound, our member families create memories daily! At BRYC, it’s all about sailing, sailboat racing, and powerboating; we offer formal indoor and casual outdoor dining, inclusive tennis, endless social events, and a refreshing pool. So whether it’s a casual set of tennis among friends, lounging at the pool with a good book or going for a family sail, The Black Rock Yacht Club has something for everyone.

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Submitted by Milford, CT

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